Rail joint



R v Q N m H v A m 2 Mm Vfla 1 %\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Sfix r g n m m m l C. FURNARI ET AL RAIL JOINT Filed Aug. 15, 1929 April 22, 1930.

April 22, 1930. c FURNARl ET AL RAIL JOINT Filed-Aug. 15, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In venior ZZaT/rmrz Ba/szZe -52;

Jkrme 70" 7 A itorney Patented Apr. 22 1930 OARMELOTURNARI, TONY BAsI-LE, AND Ross? soror'ro; or ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA 1 MIL JoI-n'r Application filed August 15, 1929. Serial No. 386,136.

v vThis inWention" relates to' improved rail joints,ch'araeterized by certain refinements and improvements in construction suchas serve to provide. a structurewhich: is a distinct contribution to thefa-r't.

' The invention is predicated upon the provision of notches of a peculiar design in the adjacent ends of the web portion of a pair of comp'lem'enta'l rails, wherein these notches 19 serve inproducin'g what may be designated as a key slot, and a key of a corresponding sha'pe'is' fitted into this slot in such a way as to securely fasten the rails together and at v the same time to 'compensate: for expansion 5 and contraction fromweaither conditions.

y feature of novelty is" predicated upon this keyconnection which is placed in the slot at right angles to the weloiportio'n' and which is of a thickness-equal totheweb portions and therefore flush with said web portions, to-

gether with a pair of complemental slida'bly mounted fish plates on opposite sides" for maintaining the key in place, said fish plates being retained in positionby special retaining bolts or members, order to provide a complete structure" which eliminates entirely the employment of conventional fasteners, such as bolts and nuts.

It is our aim to generally improveupon 3'0 rail joints by providing one which is further characterized by reasonable simplicity and economy in construction and arrangement, the arrangement being such as to insure eflicient results, to expedite connecting of the rails, and placement of the parts, and to otherwise fulfill the requirements of a structure of this class.

Other features and advantages will be come more readily apparent from the fol- 4 lowing description and drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of'a pair of rail-ends embodying the fastening means constructed in accordance with the present inven- 455 tion.

, Fig. 2 is a slightly enlarged side view of the rail ends showing the double dove-tailed key in the correspondingly shaped slot, the fish plates being removed for clearness.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal or longitudinal section taken approximately upon the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section on the line4-+4' of Fig. '1.

Fig. 5- is an enlarged perspective view of one end portion of one of the-rails Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview ofthe especially designed coupling key.

The rails are distinguished by the reference characters? and 8 respectively, although each rail end is the same in construction. For instance, by referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that each rail comprises the base flange 9, the web portion 10, and the ball or head 11. Inthis instance, the head or ball is formed on its'under side adjacent each end with longitudin'al-ly extending ribs 12 arranged in spaced parallelism with the web and forming longitudinal slideways.

Moreover, thebase flange is formed with correspondingly disposed shoulders 18- defining complemental slideways. Then too, the web portion is formed with a notch 14 which opens through each end, and which has its i i-inerend of theshape shown at 15 to form what be designated as a dove-tail shaped opening; hen the two rail ends are placed in abuttin relation", the eoin'plemental notches define a longitudinal key slet.

' Adapted to be fitted in from the sides in the stat the key 16. This comprises rectangular'central portion 1? having duplicate dove-tailed end portions 18; Thus the body portion extends into the complemental notches 14 and the end portions 18 are fitted into thecorrespondingly shaped end portions 15' of the slots, thereby bridging the space between the'rai-l ends as shown plainly in -1s c It will be noted that the key is of a thickness corresponding, to thethickness of the web and therefore is flush with the opposite faces of the web On o posite sides, I provide a pair of dupli atefish plates 19 and these are of rectangular configuration and of a length commensurate with the combined lengths of the aforesaid s'lideway's inthe r'ail ends 7 and 8. In fact the fish plates bridge the joints-between the railends and cover and conceal the key and-key slots;

to permit it to be struck with a hammer and I driven down into the keeper notch 25 in the base flange, as indicatedplainly in Figf'5.

c The latch 24 is of dove-tailed cross sectional shape, as seen plainly sin Fig, 3 Thus it is securely held placeL -ln practice, the notched rail ends are brought together in the usual Way, thus defining the elongated key slot. Then'the' double-ended or dove-tailed key member is placed in the slot in a direction at right angles to-the-web portions of the the slot to allow forezgpansion and contraction. No bolts or other fastening means are required in shoving this key in' place.

Then, the fish plates, are slid into their respective slide grooves or slideways against the complemental abutments. 2 Then the latches are driven down into their respective keeperseats, thus securely maintaining the fish plates in place as well as the key. Consequently, an-efiectivejoint is had and no special fastening devices or objectionable bolts, nuts or the like are'required.

A careful consideration of the description in connection with the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear-understanding of the invention, the method of use, andthe features and advantages vthereof. Therefore,

plates and cooperable with said seats for holding the plates in position, 2. In a rail joint construction of the class described, a pair of complemental rails having their adjacent ends disposed in abutting relation and having their web portions formed with'especially designed notches defining an elongated key-slot, the opposite end ortions of said slot being of dove-tailed con guration, a key arranged in said slot and having dove-tailed end portionsfitted'into correspondingly shaped end portions of said slot, a pair of slidably mounted fish plates mounted on the rail-ends in apo-sition to bridge the joint-between said ends, .said fish plates being of a size to completely cover and conceal the key, and retaining latches for said fishplates. 'c a I i V "31 In ,a rail joint constructionlof the class described, 'a pair of :abutting rails having their complemental web portion-s formed.

with a key-slot, a removable key in said slot coupling said rails together, the head and base portions of said rails being formed with upper and lower grooves constituting slideways, a stop abutment at one end ofeach pair of slideways, a latch seat on the opposite end of each pair, a pair of fish plates disposed on opposite sides of the web portion, and slidable in said slideways, the fishiplates being adapted to engage the abutmentand being provided with transverselyfdisposed slidably mounted latches, each latch having an operating lug and said latches being located for removable receptionin said keeper seats.

Intestimonywhereof we aflix our signatures. I l I cA ME no FURNARI.

TONY XZB'ASILE;

oss is'ii orro; Y a 1 Minor changes inshape, size, and rearrangement of details, coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in 7 actual practice if desired.

' Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is 1. In a rail structure of the class described, a pair of complemental rails having their web portions cutout to provide a longitudinal key-slot, a removable retaining and coupling key arranged in said slot for joining the ends of said rails together, and slidably mounted retaining plates associated with the rail ends and disposed on opposite sides of the web portion for maintaining said key within its slot,

andmeans on the web portions of said rail ends for limiting the sliding movement of the I complemental plate in one direction, said rail I ends being provided with'jlatch :seats, and slidable retaining latches carried by the 

